Great American Eclipse lives up to the hype

By | August 21, 2017 at 2:50 PM CDT - Updated August 16 at 7:22 AM

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - Americans got a glimpse of the sun being eclipsed by the moon Monday afternoon. For people in portions of 14 states from the West Coast to the East Coast, there was an opportunity to see a rare total solar eclipse, as long as the weather cooperated.

Clouds and scattered rain upset some Mid-Southerners who didn't get a great look at the celestial event. However, the majority of the Mid-South was able to see the moon eclipse 94 percent of the sun.

The moon blocked a portion of the sun for just over four hours across parts of the U.S., beginning in Oregon at 11:05 a.m. CST and ending on the Carolina coast at 3:09 p.m.

NASA said the longest duration for the total eclipse was near Carbondale, IL, where the sun was completely covered for two minutes and 40 seconds.

In the Mid-South, the eclipse started around 11:50 a.m., peaked at 1:22 p.m., and ended around 3 p.m.

One of the largest crowds in Memphis gathered at Shelby Farms Park.

"It's nuts! I'm glad we got here as early as we could, because traffic is crazy," Rachel Williams said about the crowds at Shelby Farms.